MacWhisper vs Transcrib Si: a local application against a web service
MacWhisper runs the model on your Mac; Transcrib Si runs the service in the browser and hands the text to your pipeline. The comparison below was read from public pages on 21 October 2026 — and we mark honestly the cells of MacWhisper that we could not read at all.
What we compared, and how
Everything in the other column was read from public pages on 21 October 2026. Where a page could not be read, the cell says “not measured” — we do not fill those cells from advertising or from memory. Our own column comes from our pricing page, our service contract and our privacy policy, all published on this site.
| What | Transcrib Si | MacWhisper | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | a web service and REST API that transcribes the files you upload | a desktop application for macOS that transcribes audio, video, meetings and system audio locally, with Whisper, Parakeet and other models | the home pages of both services, read on 21 October 2026 |
| Where the audio is processed | on our own transcription infrastructure outside the United States for Russian and mixed files, and on a third-party cloud speech provider in the United States for a purely English file when that fallback is enabled on the server | locally on your Mac — that is the central claim of the product | our privacy policy; macwhisper.com description, read on 21 October 2026 |
| Free plan | $0: 3 files a day, up to 30 minutes and 64 MB per file, timestamps and speaker labels, exports to TXT, Markdown, SRT, VTT and CSV, no card | a free version of the application, with a paid Pro option distributed through Gumroad and the Mac App Store | our pricing page; macwhisper.com description, read on 21 October 2026 |
| Paid plan | Pro $10 a month paid yearly ($120 a year) or $20 a month paid monthly; Team on request | not measured — the /pricing page did not load on 21 October 2026; an earlier survey of 21 September 2026 recorded a one-time licence of $30–64, and that figure was not confirmed on 21 October 2026 | our pricing page; macwhisper.com/pricing, read on 21 October 2026 |
| Supported platforms | any browser on any system — Windows, macOS, Linux, a phone | macOS only | our pricing page; macwhisper.com, read on 21 October 2026 |
| Models | one engine, tuned for Russian and for mixed Russian-English speech; the language is set by you or detected | Whisper, Parakeet and other models; the user chooses the model and the settings | our llms.txt; macwhisper.com description, read on 21 October 2026 |
| Transcription languages | 2 — Russian and English, with automatic detection | multilingual by model; the number of languages was not measured on 21 October 2026 | our llms.txt; macwhisper.com, read on 21 October 2026 |
| Longest single file | 120 minutes and 64 MB on every plan, including Team and the API | not measured — the limit depends on the model and the machine | our service contract |
| Export formats | 6 — TXT, Markdown, SRT, VTT, CSV, DOCX (DOCX is a Pro feature) | export exists; the list of formats was not measured on 21 October 2026 | our pricing page |
| API, MCP and agent plugins | REST v1 under api.transcrib.si, an MCP server with 4 tools, plugins for Claude and ChatGPT | not measured on 21 October 2026 — the product is a desktop application | our llms.txt |
| Team features | Team plan on request: shared workspaces, a shared glossary, SSO, user management, a committed volume | none — a desktop application is a single-machine tool | our pricing page; macwhisper.com, read on 21 October 2026 |
| Machine-readable facts | llms.txt, llms-full.txt and JSON-LD with the prices and the limits | none — llms.txt and llms-full.txt answer 404, the sitemap of the site holds 7 URLs and the documentation site returned 404 in our snapshot | the llms.txt and the sitemap of both sites, read on 21 October 2026 |
Where MacWhisper is better
- Local processing. The audio never leaves the Mac — for a file that must not go to any server, that is the whole argument, and it is a good one.
- The models are yours to choose: Whisper, Parakeet and others, with the settings under your control.
- A one-time purchase instead of a subscription, according to an earlier survey of 21 September 2026; the price was not confirmed on 21 October 2026.
- It records meetings and system audio, not just files you already have.
- No account, no quota and no per-minute accounting: it is an application, not a service.
Where Transcrib Si is better
- Any platform. Any browser, any system, and a phone — MacWhisper is macOS only, and the macOS user still needs to buy and install it.
- The text arrives in a pipeline: a REST API under api.transcrib.si/v1, an MCP server with 4 tools, plugins for Claude and ChatGPT, and six export formats including DOCX and CSV.
- A stated allowance and a stated limit: 1,500 minutes of audio per calendar month on Pro, 64 MB and 120 minutes per file on every plan.
- Team work: shared workspaces, a shared glossary, SSO and user management on the Team plan.
- Machine-readable facts about the service: llms.txt, llms-full.txt and JSON-LD with our prices and limits.
Who should pick which
- Pick MacWhisper if the file must not leave the machine — a confidential recording, a legal interview, a patient conversation, a source that cannot be uploaded anywhere.
- Pick Transcrib Si if you need the text on another platform, if you need a shared workspace, or if the transcript has to arrive inside a script or an agent.
- Pick MacWhisper if you like choosing the model and tuning the parameters yourself.
- Pick Transcrib Si if you would rather not install an application and keep the device: it runs in the browser and works from a phone.
- Pick either if you need Russian and English: our engine is tuned for Russian and for mixed Russian-English speech, and we publish the number of languages instead of a phrase.
The short version
They differ on three axes. Where the audio goes: your machine, or our infrastructure (outside the United States for Russian and mixed files; a third-party cloud speech provider in the United States for a purely English file when that fallback is enabled). Who can use it: one person with a Mac, or any browser on any system, including a team with a shared workspace. What comes out: a file on your disk, or text with timecodes and speakers, in six formats, over an API, an MCP server and plugins for Claude and ChatGPT.
The honest weakness on our side is the same one MacWhisper sells against: our processing is not local. If the file must never leave your device, we are the wrong service, and MacWhisper is the right one.
The limits, side by side
Every figure below was read from a public page on 21 October 2026. Our column comes from our own pricing page and service contract.
| Limit | Transcrib Si | MacWhisper | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where the audio is processed | our own infrastructure outside the United States for Russian and mixed files; a third-party cloud speech provider in the United States for a purely English file when that fallback is enabled | locally on your Mac | our privacy policy; macwhisper.com description, 21 October 2026 |
| Platform | any browser, any system, a phone included | macOS only | our pricing page; macwhisper.com, 21 October 2026 |
| Free option | $0, no card: 3 files a day, up to 30 minutes per file | a free version of the application | our pricing page; macwhisper.com description, 21 October 2026 |
| Paid price | Pro $10 a month paid yearly ($120 a year) or $20 a month paid monthly | not measured — /pricing did not load on 21 October 2026; an earlier survey of 21 September 2026 recorded a one-time licence of $30–64, not confirmed since | our pricing page; macwhisper.com/pricing, 21 October 2026 |
| Per file | up to 64 MB and 120 minutes on every plan, including Team and the API | not measured — depends on the model and the machine | our service contract |
| Languages | 2 — Russian and English, with automatic detection | multilingual by model; the count was not measured | our llms.txt; macwhisper.com, 21 October 2026 |
| Outputs and integration | 6 export formats, a REST API, an MCP server with 4 tools, plugins for Claude and ChatGPT, a shared workspace on Team | a desktop application; the export list and the API were not measured | our llms.txt; macwhisper.com, 21 October 2026 |
How to decide in one minute
Three questions:
- Must the audio never leave the machine? MacWhisper — that is what it is built for, and we do not compete with it there.
- Does the transcript have to reach a script, a notebook, a CRM or an agent? Transcrib Si.
- Does a colleague or a second person need to open the transcript, or a phone to make it? Transcrib Si — a local application has neither.
Put a file on the page and read the first lines.
The widget below is the same one as on the home page: file → transcript with timecodes and speakers → export. Sign in and the transcript moves into your account.
Drop an audio or video file
or — mp3, wav, m4a, mp4, up to 64 MB and two hours
Transcription runs without an account: sign in to keep the text, the history and the exports.
No account yet? The free plan needs no card. Create a free account or sign in.
Questions this page answers.
What does MacWhisper cost?
We could not confirm it on 21 October 2026: the /pricing page did not load for us, and an earlier survey of 21 September 2026 recorded a one-time licence of $30–64 through Gumroad and the Mac App Store. Our Pro is $10 a month paid yearly ($120 a year) or $20 a month paid monthly, and the free plan is $0 with no card.
Is the local version more private?
If the audio never leaves the machine, it is more private by definition, and that is MacWhisper's claim. We publish our own answer in full: a Russian or mixed file is processed on our own infrastructure outside the United States, a purely English file may be passed to a third-party cloud speech provider in the United States when that fallback is enabled, nothing is sold, and nothing is used to train models for other customers.
Which one transcribes Russian better?
For our side we can only state the design: the engine is tuned for Russian speech and for mixed Russian-English conversation, and the language is detected automatically when you do not set it. MacWhisper runs Whisper and Parakeet, which are multilingual by model. Neither service publishes an accuracy percentage — ask both for the evaluation report and the sample set.
Can I use Transcrib Si inside Claude or ChatGPT?
Yes — a plugin for each, both going through the same MCP server: transcribe_audio, summarize_transcript, extract_actions and list_transcripts. The API is REST v1 under api.transcrib.si, with an API key on Pro and Team.
Can I keep using MacWhisper and use this too?
Yes, and for many people that is the sensible answer: a local application for the recordings that must not leave the machine, and a service for the transcripts that have to travel.
Related pages.
The same comparison, from the side of switching.
Two file-based services against each other.
An editor against a transcription service.
Our plans, limits and fair-use rule in full.
Short recordings and what they cost.
Where a file is processed and how long it is kept.
Mark Burmistrov, Founder.
Every number on this page comes from the service contract, the pricing page or our own measurements. The author of the page and the publisher of the site are the same person. Questions and corrections: support@transcrib.si.